By: F. Amanda Tugade
Read original post here.
Kelli Wright’s duplex may be a short drive from her old apartment, but the distance felt like a world away, especially from the life she left behind.
Two years ago, before moving to Des Moines’ far north side, the single mother of four lived in a three-bedroom apartment just outside downtown. Cheap rent for a unit that size locked Wright into a lease, but the building’s broken fire alarms and the constant gunfire and police sirens that awoke her sons became dealbreakers.
“There was always something, and you were always just on edge,” Wright, 40, said. “And you always had to be cautious of what was going on.”
Wright said she moved her family into a safer neighborhood — the first of many milestones she reached while participating in a two-year program that offered 110 central Iowans $500 a month, no-strings-attached.
The UpLift program, which ended in April, is part of a research study led by The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement, analyzing whether an unrestricted monthly stipend can reduce poverty.
Participants received debit cards reloaded each month with $500. They also were offered “benefits counseling” to understand how the additional money would push their income higher and affect their existing benefits, like child care or food assistance.
UpLift’s end comes nearly a year after Iowa lawmakers banned local governments from adopting similar guaranteed income programs. Republicans who backed the bill previously criticized UpLift, arguing it’s not the correct course of action to address poverty and expressing concern that guaranteed income programs instead would become more widespread.
While the study’s results will be published next year, Wright and two other individuals who spoke to the Des Moines Register said they found success in the program as they worked toward financial independence. They said they were able to meet their basic needs, take care of their children and finally plan for their futures.
During the program’s first year, almost 41% of participants said they spent their stipend on food and groceries, followed by transportation, housing and utilities.
Initial findings also show a high percentage of people — roughly 28% — spent the money on retail, which project coordinator Michael Berger said could suggest their preference for shopping at stores that sell both food and household items such as Target, Walmart or Sam’s Club.
The vast majority (81%) of the program’s 110 participants were Polk County residents, and at least 65% lived in a metropolitan area. The group, many of whom were working full-time, reported earning an average household income of just over $24,000 annually.
Some program participants were able to stay afloat while navigating unexpected challenges such as job loss or a relationship ending, said Ashley Ezzio, who oversaw the project with Berger.
UpLift’s $500 a month supported individuals during those tough times, which could have otherwise led them to seek emergency shelters or other short-term services to patch financial gaps.
“They can keep life at home somewhat stable while they work through that,” Ezzio said.
With Wright’s sights on housing, she put money toward her rent, which runs about $1,500 and is double the cost of her old apartment near the River Bend and Evelyn Davis Park neighborhoods. She pays more for her current duplex in the Lower Beaver neighborhood, “but it’s so much calmer here.”
“It’s just more peaceful, and I think we’re all at peace being here than there,” she said.
Participants expanded a nonprofit, went to school
Nicole Wilson and Christy Klobnak have grown accustomed to that peace of mind. They said they used the extra money to pay bills and later save and invest for their financial futures.
Wilson, 51, of Des Moines, said she lost her job as a Des Moines Public Schools student support coordinator mid-way through the UpLift program. The news of her position’s elimination came as a shock, but Wilson said she felt less “anxious” about being unemployed because of the program’s $500 monthly stipend.
The program also took some pressure off when job prospects didn’t pan out, said Wilson, who now works as a verbatim hearing reporter for the Social Security Administration.
She said other dollars went to launching her husband’s abatement business and boosting her nonprofit, Let’s Convo, which she started in 2018 and provides companion care services to seniors.
Having that breathing room was key for 40-year-old Klobnak, who at the start of the program was navigating her first few years of divorce and juggling two jobs.
Over time, the Waukee single mother of three said she quit her second job as a front desk clerk at a local health club to focus on her first job, where she is now a supervisor for the company’s payroll and billing department.
“Because I was able to have more freedom to devote to it and more time, I was able to be promoted,” she said.
Klobnak also started a savings account and used part of her stipend to pay for her Bible school tuition, a personal endeavor that has since led her to ministry and leadership opportunities.
And, Wright, too, said UpLift gave her some relief from living paycheck to paycheck and the chance to find a better job.
“I didn’t have to work 40 hours a week,” Wright said. “I could take a few hours off to look for a job, or do interviews, or anything like that. Before I was always stressed at making sure I had all my hours in one week, because I needed those to get by.”
Klobnak said even her children noticed she was less stressed.
“The home life was different and the struggle hanging over us wasn’t impacting them as much,” she said.
All three participants said UpLift helped them pay for their children’s clothes, school supplies, tuition and fees for extracurricular activities. They also celebrated birthdays, graduations and Christmas and went on vacations.
“Even if your income goes toward your bills, your food, your gas, now I can do something for my child,” Wilson said. “I can put her in this league. I can take him to the Science Center (of Iowa) and expose him to what is available. I can put him in a summer camp for STEM research.”
As final payments completed, participants look to the future
All of that makes it tough for Wilson to understand why lawmakers banned guaranteed cash assistance programs.
“I will continue to say it is a program that can uplift the community,” Wilson said. “It’s not just about a single household. When I look at what we were able to do, we were able to fund two businesses, we were able to help our children. So it’s not just our household, but we have reached our community.”
Under Iowa law, guaranteed income programs are defined as those that provide “regular periodic cash payments that are unearned and may be used for any purpose.” It does not include work studies or required training programs.
Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, previously called the programs “socialism on steroids.”
“I believe that we have the ultimate concern of the taxpayer at hand,” Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, previously said. He added: “We’ve done a lot of things in this particular chamber to help poverty.”
Under the bill, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office would be able to send cease-and-desist orders to any city or county that adopts or enforces a program that provides guaranteed income. Cities and counties that violate the ban would be subject to lawsuits.
Berger and Ezzio would not directly comment on the law. Instead, they pointed to UpLift’s partners who have invested in the program and “in looking at innovative solutions to end poverty and meet community basic needs.” UpLift was initially financed with $2.5 million from 11 public, private, corporate and philanthropic entities.
“The diversity in investment in the project allows UpLift to continue as planned with final research to be released in the summer of 2026,” Ezzio said.
Until then, UpLift researchers plan to conduct two more surveys with participants in April and later in the fall, along with interviews over the summer. With results expected by June 2026, Ezzio said she looks forward to future conversations with residents and community partners. Panel and storytelling events previously held with local organizations and participants have shed light on larger issues affecting the city, Iowa counties and state such as affordable housing and eviction laws.
“Our research study is so important to inform some of these decisions, but these conversations that we’re having as a true community are really impactful,” Ezzio said. “What works? What doesn’t work? What’s showing promise, and how can folks who are interested get involved in those ways to make the community better for everyone?”
The National Bureau of Economic Research conducted a similar two-year study, where 695 households in South Compton, California, were selected to receive $500 a month on average in cash transfer payments. Researchers found that participants used payments to tackle debt and that the program had no significant impact on people’s participation in full-time work.
Researchers found that single mothers, who made up 22% of the group and often experience high rates of poverty, did not reduce their labor force participation and increased their income. A slight decline in workforce participation was found among recipients working fewer than 20 hours a week when the program began.
Researchers also learned recipients were less afraid of being evicted, “but no significant improvements in overall psychological or financial well-being.”
Final payments went out April 15, marking a new beginning for Wright, Wilson and Klobnak.
Wright said she is “OK” with the program ending. She didn’t expect to be among the 110 participants randomly selected from a pool of 6,000 applicants.
“I was really grateful to have the chance, to even get it in the first place,” she said. “I have a savings now. I never did before, so that’s nice.”
Wright said she was also in a different place two years ago. Her sons are older, some working and already contributing to home expenses, and she no longer has to pay for child care for her youngest.
They will figure out whatever comes next.
“Nothing lasts forever,” she said.
After two years, Wilson and Klobnak said they were grateful for the program that let them build solid ground and felt ready to move forward.
“I knew the money was going to end at some point. I knew when the end came,” Wilson said. “It was a release, because now I know that I can move forward.”
Who were the UpLift participants?
- Of the 110 people, a majority of them — 81% — are Polk County residents, according to a news release from the Harkin Institute. Ten percent live in Dallas County, and 9% are from Warren County. Program leaders sought to focus on those three counties to see how the monthly checks would impact people in need living in rural, micropolitan and metropolitan areas.
- At least 70 participants — or 65% — live in a metropolitan area, while about 28 are in a micropolitan area. The rest live in rural areas.
- The Harkin Institute also provided a breakdown of the participants’ racial demographics: 55% of them are white. Twenty-six percent identified as Black or African American, while 10% said they are multi-racial or another race. Roughly 5% shared they are Asian, and another 5% said they are Latinx.
- Participants also reported they were working and earning an average household income of just above $24,000 a year when they were chosen for the program. Many participants said they were working full time and spent roughly 44% of their income on rent or other housing costs, about 14% above the national standard.
What is Iowa’s cost of living?
- One in six full-time Iowa workers do not make enough money to afford basic needs, according to the nonprofit Common Good Iowa.
- A single parent with one child must earn at least $24.64 an hour to afford their basic needs, Common Good Iowa also reported. Two working parents with two children must each make $19.55 or more an hour.
- The average cost of rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Des Moines is just north of $1,000 a month, with prices slightly higher in the suburbs, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
